Manny Pacquiao has been named Fighter of the Decade by the Boxing Writers Association of America, coming on the heels of back-to-back Fighter of the Year awards.
I'm guessing it was pretty much a two-horse race between Pacquiao and Floyd Mayweather Jr., reflecting the current mythical pound-for-pound battle in boxing. You could consider Joe Calzaghe, who went undefeated and won the legit championships at 168 and 175, and probably Bernard Hopkins as well. Hopkins had several big wins and left a major impression on the sport, surpassing what he did in the 1990s, which probably should have been his prime years.
Dan Rafael says that other nominees were Shane Mosley, Juan Manuel Marquez and Marco Antonio Barrera, all of whom I'd put a step behind Calzaghe and Hopkins, and two steps behind Pacquiao and Mayweather.
Other BWAA awards, all for 2009:
- Pacquiao as Fighter of the Year, obviously
- Marquez-Diaz as Fight of the Year
- Joe Tessitore of ESPN for excellence in broadcast journalism (Sam Taub Award)
- Newark Star-Ledger columnist Jerry Izenberg for long and meritorious service to boxing (John F.X. Condon Award)
- The late Alexis Arguello takes the "good guy" award (Marvin Kohn Award)
- Nick Charles and George Chuvalo share the award for courage in overcoming adversity (Bill Crawford Award)
Congratulations to all the winners.